Trading
RBS and JP Morgan scale back prop trading
LONDON – Royal Bank of Scotland closed its London-based prop trading desk last week in the latest sign of the hardship faced by FX desks at banks.
Positive factors supporting the pound
Barclays Capital (BarCap) has adjusted its sterling view to align with its position on the greenback, on advice from recent Bank of England hire, Paul Robinson.
Preparing for a return to volatility
Persistently low levels of volatility have made it tough to trade the currency markets since late august. Simon Derrick, head of currency strategy at Bank of New York in London, investigates whether the past few months have been anomalous, and how to…
Tullett Prebon launches multi-asset market data service
LONDON – Tullett Prebon Information, the market data division of interdealer broker Tullett Prebon, last week launched its market data service, Mark2Marker.
Deutsche Bank adopts latest version of Reuters Messaging
FRANKFURT – Deutsche Bank is currently working on migrating to the upcoming version 6 of Reuters Messaging (RM), which is due for release next month, according to officials at the vendor.
Relief for traders as volatility returns
LONDON – Last week saw unexpectedly large moves in the dollar/yen and euro/dollar as traders welcomed a pre-Christmas build-up in volatility after a year of flat markets.
Margin trading – an untapped opportunity
Brian Maccaba , executive chairman of Cognotec, highlights the huge growth in web-based FX margin trading and argues that banks cannot afford to ignore the opportunities that this presents
EBS credited for 75% rise in e-broking revenues at Icap
LONDON – Spot broker EBS was largely behind a 75% rise in second-half electronic broking revenues at interdealer broker Icap, the broker said last week.
ISE prepares FX options launch
NEW YORK – The International Securities Exchange (ISE) has begun publishing the underlying rates for its new ISE FX options, in preparation for launch next year.
BarCap joins LiquidityHub
NEW YORK – Barclays Capital (BarCap) has joined the LiquidityHub bank consortium, which plans to aggregate liquidity and market data for electronic trading, for their clients.
Citi forms FICC group
NEW YORK – Citigroup has merged its global fixed income and emerging markets businesses to establish a new global fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) group.
Relief for traders as volatility returns
LONDON – Last week saw unexpectedly large moves in the dollar/yen and euro/dollar as traders welcomed a pre-Christmas build-up in volatility after a year of flat markets.
Complacency leads to a hard landing
Going against consensus view, Sharada Selvanathan , currency strategist at BNP Paribas in Singapore, advises preparing for a hard landing in the US economy
Icap should get the options ball rolling
The FX Week Europe Congress was the biggest and best yet. The brightest star among many was Michael Spencer, chief executive of Icap, who explained his plans to expand his business into electronic FX options.
The carry trade shows best returns
LONDON – Carry trading can still produce positive returns, but trend trading models are losing ground, Citigroup's risk advisory group director, Jessica James told the FX Week Europe Congress.
EBS and Reuters pool resources for BoE
LONDON – Rival brokers EBS and Reuters are pooling resources to launch a new benchmark page for spot FX price fixings, to replace data currently provided by the Bank of England (BoE).
Icap pushes into options
LONDON – Icap plans to launch non-deliverable forwards and develop an electronic FX options trading platform, CEO Michael Spencer told the FX Week annual congress in his keynote address.
Asia to support global growth
LONDON – Asia holds the key to global growth amid a US slowdown, Marios Maratheftis, FX strategist at Standard Chartered in London told delegates at last week's FX Week Europe Congress.
Citigroup plays catch-up
Citigroup's recent investment in forex technology appears to be paying off, as demonstrated by the bank's resurgence this year
NFA expels Spencer Financial
NEW YORK – The National Futures Association (NFA) has expelled forex dealer member Spencer Financial from NFA membership following its failure to implement an adequate anti-money laundering regime.
Acknowledge the role of central banks
Forecasters need to acknowledge the role currently being played by central banks in maintaining range trading, said Forex Capital Markets' (FXCM) chief strategist, Kathy Lien.
Sovereign Bank live on Sierra platform
PHILADELPHIA – Sovereign Bank is using an FNX Solutions web-based Sierra platform for the its FX operations, the treasury and capital markets technology provider announced last week.
FXPB: a growing divide
LONDON – Foreign exchange prime brokers (FXPB) have started to split into full-service providers and those targeting niche markets, according to panelists at the FX Week Europe Congress last week.
EBS/FXMarketSpace rivalry heats up
LONDON – The standoff between newcomer FXMarketSpace and incumbent platform EBS revved up last week, with EBS claiming the former will favour Chicago-based users.